12/13/12

* First West Bank Hamas rally in years draws thousands Hamas held a mass rally in the West Bank city of Nablus Thursday, signaling improving relations between the Islamic movement and its rival Fatah.

* New Fatah logo eliminates Israel As Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas continues to voice support for a two-state solution based on the 1967 borders, condemning the use of violence, his party, Fatah, seems to have a different scenario in mind.

* Syria government 'losing control' - Russian official A Russian official has said for the first time that the Syrian government may be defeated by opposition forces.

* 'Syria's chemical weapons are ready for use' Syria's chemical weapons could be used at "a moment's notice" and the international community should not accept any assurances from Syrian officials that they will not be used".

* Israelis and Palestinians to meet in Jordan in February, King Abdullah says King Abdullah II of Jordan announced that Jordan would host Israeli-Palestinian meetings in February with the backing of the European Union and the United States.

* Veteran Educator Arrested for 'Crime of Prayer' Veteran Israeli educator and Education Prize awardee Sarah Eliash was arrested this week on the Temple Mount on charges of praying at the site, activists in organizations advocating open Jewish prayer at the site said.

* ADL's List of Top 10 Issues Affecting Jews in 2012 A troubling resurgence of anti-Semitism in Europe, Iran's subterfuge on the road toward a nuclear weapons capability, and the lopsided vote at the United Nations to upgrade the status of the Palestinian delegation topped the Anti-Defamation League's (ADL) annual list.

* 'Disappointment' for those expecting ambitious EU summit EU leaders will gather in Brussels on Thursday and Friday (13-14 December), but market pressure has waned recently, taking member states' ambitions for further steps to economic and monetary union with it.

* German Ruling 'Milestone' in Religious Freedom Jewish groups have praised the decision by the German Parliament to approve a law, by a vote of 434 to 100, with 46 abstentions, to allow religious circumcision.

* Gaza perfume sales soar with rocket name Sales of a citrus-scented perfume marketed in Gaza have soared since it was named in honor of the rockets that Palestinians shot at Israel during a war last month, the manufacturer said.